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Showing results for tags 'BPAL 11th Anniversary'.
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HESIOD’S PHOENIX A chattering crow lives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag's life is four times a crow's, and a raven's life makes three stags old, while the phoenix outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder, outlive ten phoenixes. - Hesoid, the Precepts of Chiron Golden amber, bourbon vanilla, and sweet oudh. In the bottle: Deep, smooth bourbon vanilla. Wet on skin: This is so hard to describe! I know I'm smelling amber, but the vanilla is still there (a very "vanilla bean" type of vanilla), and all the notes blend so perfectly together. The overall impression I get is deep gold, smooth, very warm, and sweet - but sweet in an incense-y way, not a foody way. Drydown: Stays mostly the same, but the incense quality intensifies. Absolutely beautiful. This might be the first scent I ever buy backups for. I'm in love.
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EZEKIEL’S PHOENIX Another living creature we saw, full wondrous, such as man has never seen; ’twas near in scope to twice the eagle’s size, with plumage iridescent, rainbow-hued. Its breast appeared deep-dyed with purple’s shade, its legs were red like ochre, and its neck was furnished round with tresses saffron-hued; like a coxcomb did its crest appear, with amber-tinted eye it gazed about, the pupil like some pomegranate seed. Exceeding all, its voice pre-eminent; of every wing’d thing, the king, it did appear. For all the birds, as one, in fear did haste to follow after him, and he before, like some triumphant bull went striding forth with rapid step apace. - Ezekiel the Tragedian, the Exagoge Its breast appeared deep-dyed with purple’s shade, its legs were red like ochre, and its neck was furnished round with tresses saffron-hued; like a coxcomb did its crest appear, with amber-tinted eye it gazed about, the pupil like some pomegranate seed: wild plum, North African saffron, frankincense, pomegranate, limonite accord, and golden amber. I don't know what God or Goddess Beth invoked to create this scent...but THANK YOU!!! This is a delicious amber, pomegranate and saffron scent. It is fruity...but not sweet. Slightly incensy, and the saffron is not overpowering. This I NEED!!!!!!
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BARUCH’S PHOENIX And he took me and led me where the sun goes forth; and he showed me a chariot and four, under which burnt a fire, and in the chariot was sitting a man, wearing a crown of fire, (and) the chariot (was) drawn by forty angels. And behold a bird circling before the sun, about nine cubits away. And I said to the angel, What is this bird? And he said to me, This is the guardian of the earth. And I said, Lord, how is he the guardian of the earth? Teach me. And the angel said to me, This bird flies alongside of the sun, and expanding his wings receives its fiery rays. For if he were not receiving them, the human race would not be preserved, nor any other living creature. But God appointed this bird thereto. And he expanded his wings, and I saw on his right wing very large letters, as large as the space of a threshing-floor, the size of about four thousand modii; and the letters were of gold. And the angel said to me, Read them. And I read, and they ran thus: Neither earth nor heaven bring me forth, but wings of fire bring me forth. And I said, Lord, what is this bird, and what is his name? And the angel said to me, His name is called Phoenix. (And I said), And what does he eat ? And he said to me, The manna of heaven and the dew of earth. And I said, Does the bird excrete? And he said to me, He excretes a worm, and the excrement of the worm is cinnamon, which kings and princes use. But wait and thou shalt see the glory of God. And while he was conversing with me, there was as a thunder-clap, and the place was shaken on which we were standing. And I asked the angel, My Lord, what is this sound? And the angel said to me, Even now the angels are opening the three hundred and sixty-five gates of heaven, and the light is being separated from the darkness. And a voice came which said, Light giver, give to the world radiance. And when I heard the noise of the bird, I said, Lord, what is this noise? And he said, This is the bird who awakens from slumber the cocks upon earth. For as men do through the mouth, so also does the cock signify to those in the world, in his own speech. For the sun is made ready by the angels, and the cock crows. And I said, And where does the sun begin its labours, after the cock crows? And the angel said to me, Listen, Baruch: All things whatsoever I showed thee are in the first and second heaven, and in the third heaven the sun passes through and gives light to the world. But wait, and thou shall see the glory of God. And while I was conversing with him, I saw the bird, and he appeared in front, and grew less and less, and at length returned to his full size. And behind him I saw the shining sun, and the angels which draw it, and a crown upon its head, the sight of which we were not able to gaze upon; and behold. And as soon as the sun shone, the Phoenix also stretched out his wings. But I, when I beheld such great glory, was brought low with great fear, and I fled and hid in the wings of the angel. And the angel said to me, Fear not, Baruch, but wait and thou shalt also see their setting. And he took me and led me towards the west; and when the time of the setting came, I saw again the bird coming before it, and as soon as he came I saw the angels, and they lifted the crown from its head. But the bird stood exhausted and with wings contracted. And beholding these things, I said, Lord, wherefore did they lift the crown from the head of the sun, and wherefore is the bird so exhausted? And the angel said to me, The crown of the sun, when it has run through the day four angels take it, and bear it up to heaven, and renew it, because it and its rays have been defiled upon earth; moreover it is so renewed each day. And I Baruch said, Lord, and wherefore are its beams defiled upon earth? And the angel said to me, Because it beholds the lawlessness and unrighteousness of men, namely fornications, adulteries, thefts, extortions, idolatries, drunkenness, murders, strife, jealousies, evil-speakings, murmurings, whisperings, divinations, and such like, which are not well-pleasing to God. On account of these things is it defiled, and therefore is it renewed. But thou askest concerning the bird, how it is exhausted. Because by restraining the rays of the sun through the fire and burning heat of the whole day, it is exhausted thereby. For, as we said before, unless his wings were screening the rays of the sun, no living, creature would be preserved. - Greek Apocalypse of Baruch Born in radiance, defiled, and resplendently renewed: Atlas cedar, white fig, sugared date, sweet orange, golden honey, white sandalwood, benzoin, galbanum, and bitter almond. In Vitro Sweet, orange-y, and cedar-y. Wet Sweet orange with cedar wood. After two minutes it was less orange and more wood. Two minutes later it was mildly sweet, non-astringent, non-musty wood, and very nice. Drying Eight minutes after application this settled into sweet and woody, and a half hour later it was less woody and more of a sweet spice. There was an extremely faint trace on my wrist ten hours later. With the formal test out of the way, I am delighted to report that Baruch's Phoenix evoked sunshine for me. Yes, I picked out a few notes, but the overall impression was a fair match for the creator's intent, something that I am rarely privileged to experience. Bravo, Beth!
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PLINY’S PHOENIX The phoenix, of which there is only one in the world, is the size of an eagle. It is gold around the neck, its body is purple, and its tail is blue with some rose-colored feathers. It has a feathered crest on its head. No one has ever seen the Phoenix feeding. In Arabia it is sacred to the sun god. It lives 540 years; when it is old it builds a nest from wild cinnamon and frankincense, fills the nest with scents, and lies down on it until it dies. From the bones and marrow of the dead phoenix there grows a sort of maggot, which grows into a bird the size of a chicken. This bird performs funeral rites for its predecessor, then carries the whole nest to the City of the Sun near Panchaia and places it on an altar there. - Pliny, Natural History Wild cinnamon and frankincense. Well, you had me at Wild Cinnamon, but all I can smell right now is the frankincense, which is just fine by me. After snoofing my other Pheonix decants, I know why this was the first must have bottle, this is the clear winner to me. The frankincense is so deep, sometimes I just suck frankincense right up and it's so sad (Midnight Mass, I'm looking at you) but this must be some other super powered one...trying to fight the urge to hoard...
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TACITUS’ PHOENIX That it is a creature sacred to the sun, differing from all other birds in its beak and in the tints of its plumage, is held unanimously by those who have described its nature. As to the number of years it lives, there are various accounts. The general tradition says five hundred years. Some maintain that it is seen at intervals of fourteen hundred and sixty-one years, and that the former birds flew into the city called Heliopolis successively in the reigns of Sesostris, Amasis, and Ptolemy, the third king of the Macedonian dynasty, with a multitude of companion birds marvelling at the novelty of the appearance. But all antiquity is of course obscure. From Ptolemy to Tiberius was a period of less than five hundred years. Consequently some have supposed that this was a spurious phoenix, not from the regions of Arabia, and with none of the instincts which ancient tradition has attributed to the bird. For when the number of years is completed and death is near, the phoenix, it is said, builds a nest in the land of its birth and infuses into it a germ of life from which an offspring arises, whose first care, when fledged, is to bury its father. This is not rashly done, but taking up a load of myrrh and having tried its strength by a long flight, as soon as it is equal to the burden and to the journey, it carries its father's body, bears it to the altar of the Sun, and leaves it to the flames. All this is full of doubt and legendary exaggeration. Still, there is no question that the bird is occasionally seen in Egypt. - Tacitus, Annals The Incense of the Altar of the Sun: ambrette seed, olibanum, benzoin, labdanum, galbanum, frankincense, calamus, clove bud, and orange peel. Wet: Smells a bit like Aveda's Sapmoss, but this was always galbanum in my experience. On my skin this starts to develop a very strange pathway towards being a smoky, highly resinous slightly spicy orange-whispered clove. The overall tone of the scent is very much lighter orange-yellow with a bit of gold flakes showered in. It overall has a sharper resin tempered with only a hint of sweet orange. I like it, but it's also not a very 'pretty' scent. It's quite warm, orange and glowy.
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OVID’S PHOENIX There is one bird which reproduces and renews itself: the Assyrians gave this bird his name—the Phoenix. He does not live either on grain or herbs, but only on small drops of frankincense and juices of amomum. When this bird completes a full five centuries of life straightway with talons and with shining beak he builds a nest among palm branches, where they join to form the palm tree's waving top. As soon as he has strewn in this new nest the cassia bark and ears of sweet spikenard, and some bruised cinnamon with yellow myrrh, he lies down on it and refuses life among those dreamful odors.—And they say that from the body of the dying bird is reproduced a little Phoenix which is destined to live just as many years. When time has given to him sufficient strength and he is able to sustain the weight, he lifts the nest up from the lofty tree and dutifully carries from that place his cradle and the parent's sepulchre. As soon as he has reached through yielding air the city of Hyperion, he will lay the burden just before the sacred doors within the temple of Hyperion. - Ovid, Metamorphoses Fitful dreams of the cradle and sepulchre: honey, cassia bark, sweet spikenard, cinnamon, and yellow myrrh. Make sure you roll/mix this one. When I first tried it out of the decant, I was surprised to smell pretty much only floral/herbal honey, but when I mixed the decant around a bit more the spices made a bit of an appearance. This is still primarily a green honey perfume with a myrrh base. The spices sort of lurk in the background, which surprises me because I tend to amp cinnamon. Despite the note list, I would definitely not think of this as a spicy scent, and if I didn't know cinnamon was here, I probably wouldn't be able to detect it. It's nice, but the way the honey dominates the blend on me just makes me think of other honey blends that I like better, given the myrrh going a little powdery.
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HERODOTUS’ PHOENIX They have also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there (according to the accounts of the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when the old phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follow:- The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle. They tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be credible: that he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the temple of the Sun, and there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he hollows out the ball, and puts his parent inside, after which he covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird. - Herodotus, Histories A fragrant shroud: myrrh from Yemen, Oman, and West Africa with a touch of copal and frankincense. These came in record time. Phoenixes in my mailbox! Wet, this is a sweet, rich and complicated myrrh. Almost like the SN Myrrh topnote. Immediately on the skin, it does not disappoint as a swirl of deep, chewy, brown-singed sweet sticky myrrh heading more on the side of smoky rather than sweet or pungent, arises from the tiniest drop on the back of my hand. Over time, it starts to lighten just a touch but is not really heavy on the copal or frankincense. I think both of these sweeter resins give a touch of levity and an even, slightly bright high resin note to what would be a murky, mysterious, excessively but wonderfully dark swirl of myrrh. It's magnificently striking and I like this more then Penitence. All things considered, however, I would probably not need more than one bottle of this, as a tiny spot has refrickudiculous throw! This is a touch more complex than the myrrh SN but any and all myrrh lovers must try this!
